Defining Personhood: Toward the Ethics of Quality in Clinical Care

Sarah Bishop Merrill has served as Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, and as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, Indiana. She has also taught in the Graduate and Continuing Studies Division of Union College, Schenectady, New York; at Russell Sage College, Troy, New York; and at Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, New York. In 1986, she was selected as a Fellow of the Center for Women in Government, and served as the first Agency Fellow in the New York State Department of Social Services, Commissioner's Office, assisting the Legislative Liaison in the Office of Intergovernmental Relations. Her first book, Abeunt Studia in Mores: A Festschrift for Helga Doblin, considered central philosophical issues in teaching and learning. Her current work concerns moral psychology and applied ethics, especially environmental ethics and issues related to the profession of "constructor" in the built environment. Her next book, Muddy Boots, will consider ethical challenges in construction contracting and engineering. She received her M.S. in Linguistics from Georgetown University, and her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the State University of New York at Albany, with additional graduate work in Health Systems Management at Union University's Institute of Administration and Management. She is the mother of two grown sons.